More bass fishing on the way
FLW tourney hits Decatur this week

By Paul Stackhouse
Sports Writer
The Decatur Daily
March 24, 2008

Bass tournament mania has struck Decatur once again.

Beginning Wednesday and lasting through Saturday at Decatur’s Ingalls Harbor on Alabama 20, the Wal-Mart FLW Series will invade Wheeler Lake for Decatur’s first major bass tournament of the season.

As many as 400 bass anglers from 34 states, Canada and Japan are expected to fish in the Wal- Mart FLW BP Eastern Division Tournament. The anglers will compete for the first three days of the event. The co-angler division — the person who must fish from the back of the boat — will be decided Friday, while the champion on the professional side will be crowned Saturday.

The anglers will be launching and taking off each morning at 7 from Ingalls Harbor. Weigh-ins for the first three days are scheduled for 3 p.m. each day at Ingalls, until Saturday. The championship weigh-in for the pro division is slated for 4 p.m. in the parking lot of the Decatur Wal-Mart on Spring Avenue.

Wal-Mart FLW Tour

The Wal-Mart FLW Tour will take to the waters of Lewis Smith Lake on April 3-6 for its second event of the 2008 season.

The tournament is expected to have nearly 400 anglers participating from the United States, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Australia and Japan. The pro anglers will be casting for a first-place prize of up to $125,000 while the coangler winner can win as much as $25,000.

Since 1997, according to an FLW news release, pro fisherman David Fritts, who is a crankbait specialist, has won four Tour events. Fritts holds an FLW record for winning three tournaments in one season. The last FLW Series tournament on Smith Lake was in 2006, and Fritts, who has $817,391 in career FLW winnings, finished fourth. He ranks 12th on the all-time money list.

“I have done really well on Lewis Smith Lake many times, but most tournaments have been in cold water conditions,” Fritts said. “I have a lot of confidence going into this tournament, but it all depends on the stage the fish are in.

“If the fish are up on the beds, then I am going to have a tough time. If they aren’t, then I will be able to catch some. This time of year we are getting close to the spawn. The spotted bass are going to spawn a little bit earlier than the largemouth, which may still be in a pre-spawn. It will be a lot different than the last time we were there in the fall. The spotted bass are dominant in Lewis Smith, and they usually spawn in 60- degree water temperature.”

Anglers will take off at 7 each morning from Lewis Smith Dam on Powerhouse Road in Jasper. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins also will be at Lewis Smith Dam at 3 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will be at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex at 4 p.m. FLW Outdoors will host a free Family Fun Zone and an outdoor show at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex from noon- 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Stren Series

Congratulations to Somerville’s Johnny Pittman for his third-place, co-angler division finish while fishing the recent FLW Stren Series Southeast Division bass tournament on Lake Eufaula.

According to an FLW news release, Pittman caught 18 bass in the fourday event that tipped the scales at 41-0 pounds. For his efforts, Pittman won $3,071.

Mississippi’s Alan Hults won the co-angler division with a four-day total of 19 bass that weighed 48-10.

KVD

Michigan bass fishing superstar Kevin VanDam added another chapter to his book of success recently after winning the Bassmaster Elite Series Citrus Slam tournament on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes out of Lake Wales, Fla.

Having never won an event in Florida, VanDam said he was pleased with the hard-earned victory.

“I was shocked at how tough it was out there,” Van- Dam said. “You just had to work really hard, and when you got a bite you had to be precise with your next cast. I could go back to those same spots, leave for a little while and come back and catch another. I learned a long time ago here, if you catch a bass out of the hydrilla in the open lake, you better mark that exact spot.”

KVD, as he is known on the circuit, has won more than $2.7 million on the Bassmaster trail. VanDam won $100,000 for his firstplace finish in the Citrus Slam.

The Bassmaster Elite Series Southern Challenge will roll into Decatur June 5-8, 2008, for a tournament on Wheeler Lake.

Rounding out the top 10 at the Citrus Slam were South Carolina’s Ray Sedgwick ($32,000), Arkansas pro Scott Rook ($25,000), Oklahoma’s Kenyon Hill ($20,000), Ohio’s Bill Lowen ($17,000), Texas pro and 2008 Bassmaster Classic champion Alton Jones ($15,500), Bobby Lane of Florida ($16,000), Florida’s Bryan Hudgins ($15,500), Texas pro Kelly Jordon ($14,000), Terry Scroggins of Florida ($13,500), Oklahoma pro Jeff Reynolds ($12,500) and Virginia’s Rick Morris ($12,300).